Softball: Rock Falls takes over Big Northern lead with win against North Boone

ROCK FALLS – In a battle between the top two softball teams in the Big Northern Conference standings, Rock Falls got a strong pitching performance and a four-run second inning Monday to claim the league lead by itself with a 6-2 win over North Boone.

“It’s a big conference win, and we really wanted it today,” Zoe Morgan said. “Everyone had energy in the dugout, and we all played really well.”

Morgan had the big blow for the Rockets (12-5, 7-1 BNC), blasting a three-run home run in the second inning for a 5-1 lead.

Brooke Howard and Jersey Thomas drew consecutive two-out walks to start the inning, then starting pitcher Katie Thatcher helped her own cause with an RBI single to right to drive in the speedy Howard from second. Morgan then smoked the next pitch over the fence just to the left of center field.

“I told myself that she was going to throw a strike to me. I looked for a first-pitch strike and I just went with it,” Morgan said. “It felt really good off the bat, and it was gone.”

The two-out rally in the second inning took some of the sting out the first inning for Rock Falls. Howard led off with a single, then Thomas replaced her at first base on a fielder’s choice. Thatcher followed with a single, then Morgan ripped a double into the gap in right-center to plate Thomas.

“I just knew that I needed to hit the ball,” Morgan said. “We were down by one, and I wanted to get the bat on the ball and get people running around the bases.”

Abby Whiles drew a walk to load the bases, but North Boone starter Lexi Goodman needed only seven more pitches to get out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage.

The the second inning helped ease the pressure on the Rockets – and Thatcher in the circle.

“I feel like the first inning, we didn’t have the momentum going,” Thatcher said. “But once we got a couple girls on base in the second, we kept it rolling from there. We did a really good job to string those hits together to get those runs that we needed.”

Thatcher hit her stride in the circle over the next few innings, notching 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and fourth. The Vikings (10-4, 7-2 BNC) led off the fifth with a double on a half-swing by Sydney Goodman, then a single by Audrey Pearce.

But the throw from Howard in center to home plate was cut off by Thatcher avfter Goodman stopped at third, and Thatcher fired to second in time for Thomas to tag out Pearce trying to take second on the throw. Thomas then fired back home after Goodman took off for the plate, but the throw was late and Goodman was safe.

But Thatcher (9-2) worked out of the inning with no more damage after consecutive two-out walks, then pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth by inducing three straight groundouts. She set the Vikings down in order in the top of the seventh to finish off the victory.

“Katie, usually it takes her one inning to get going; you’ve got to find the umpire’s strike zone. But when she finds it, she’s going after it,” Rock Falls coach Steve Giddings said. “I let the pitcher and catcher call their own game, and they’ve been real good at it, and they were again today.”

The Rock Falls junior allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits, striking out eight and walking two. Her defense was strong behind her, playing flawlessly after an error on the first at-bat of the game.

“I was really just trying to work the zone,” Thatcher said. “We knew that they were going to be a good hitting team, so I was just trying to get ground balls and not give them that solid contact. Once I got into the groove, it sort of just went from there.”

Thatcher also finished 3-for-4 with an RBI at the plate, and Morgan was 2-for-4 with a double and a homer for four RBIs. Howard was 2-for-3 and drove in a run, and Thomas scored twice. Savanna Fritz and Rylee Johnson also had hits, and Johnson scored the Rockets’ final run in the sixth.

She led off with a single and ended up on third after the ball got past the North Boone center fielder, then scored on Howard’s single up the middle.

“They’re hitting the ball hard now, and they’re having fun,” Giddings said. “I’m aggressive on the bases, and I told the girls it was my fault for a couple of outs on the bases. Other than that, it was a good game.”

Danielle Goodman had two hits for the Vikings, and Kaylee Witte drove in Lauren Stefek with an RBI groundout in the first inning. Stefek reached on an error to lead off the game, then stole second before taking third on Danielle Goodman’s single, and scoring on Witte’s grounder to shortstop.

Lexi Goodman struck out four and walked four in a complete game, allowing six runs and nine hits for North Boone.

“I think both sides pitched very well. We just had one inning where we walked a couple batters and they put the ball in play and got the big hits. We just didn’t do that enough,” Vikings coach Tim Fleming said. “But I think it’s going to be a really fun next couple of weeks. There are five teams that are competing for the top [in the conference], so it’s a big loss for us, but in the grand scheme of things, we’ve kind of got the meat of the conference here in the next couple weeks, so we’ll pick ourselves up and move on.”